


Nightmares

by Kyrate



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Other, look at my babes talking about their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:38:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5702071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyrate/pseuds/Kyrate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec and Isabelle talk about Simon and other things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this my Junior year of highschool and polished it up literally five minutes ago. My first ever fanfiction please love it.

Alec wove his way through the crowds of people on his way to the Institute. It was a warm June morning and Brooklyn was bustling with people. It was the usual hodgepodge of people, businessmen and women, college students on their way home for the summer, joggers, and tourists in awful khaki shorts. The smell of sewage, hot dogs, and gasoline filled the air as cars honked and sped past as Alec moved into Manhattan. Walking to the Institute from the apartment took longer but Alec liked to see the sights, especially in summer. The sun glinted off the windows of skyscrapers and there were few clouds in sight. It was actually a nice day for once. Alec made his way through the throngs of people and finally crossed to the church building at the corner.

He pushed open the double doors and stepped inside. Closing the doors behind him he moved through the pews and opened the cage doors to the elevator. He pressed his thumb to the button and the door closed. As the elevator moved upward Alec took some time to think. The Institute seemed a bit smaller after the end of the war; it almost felt like Alec had grown into it and maybe he had. The others seemed to be getting back in the swing of things, but there was no denying the massive hole in their group. Alec hadn’t known Simon well but he did know that the mundane-turned-vampire played a huge role in saving their lives. He had gotten used to his annoying presence and sarcasm, it wasn’t the same without him.  
The doors opened into the foyer and Alec stepped out. There was a sound to his left and Alec turned around to see Jace and Clary sitting on the couch in the reception area. Clary was wearing a pair of shorts and one of Jace’s T-shirts; her sketchpad lay on her stomach along with several pens and pencils. She was also fast asleep and her feet were propped on Jaces lap as he smiled adoringly at her. Alec stepped into the room and Jace turned towards him.

“Hey” he whispered.

“Hi.” Alec said, “Why are you two sleeping here? You know you have rooms’ right? Rooms with beds?”

Jace chuckled quietly, “Yeah I know, but Clary wanted to watch a movie, I think it was called The Lion King. We never made it back upstairs.” Jace set his hand on Clarys’ leg as she muttered something in her sleep. 

“Magnus has talked about that movie before, but I’ve never seen it. What’s it about?” Alec asked curiously. Magnus was a huge fan of animated films and was supposedly the first in line to see the first Toy Story Movie in theaters. 

“It’s basically Hamlet, only it has a happy ending and everyone is an animated lion who sings.” Jace said grinning at Alec. Jace looked happier and more at peace than Alec had ever seen him. Which he was glad for, finally Jace no longer looked like he wanted to throw himself off a five story building for kicks. For once he seemed free.

“You actually watched a family friendly version of Hamlet?” 

“Not gonna lie, I prefer the tragedy better. More suspense.”

“Of course you do.” Alec tilted his head and frowned. It was far too quit in the Institute for a Friday morning. He didn’t hear the clicking of heels or music. “Where’s Isabelle?” Jace shrugged, but there were worry lines between his eyes as he looked at Alec. 

“Not sure. She went to bed early last night.” Alec sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 

“I’m gonna go talk to her.” Alec said, he turned away from Jace and mounted the stairs. It had been months since Simon had sacrificed his memories and several weeks since Jocelyn and Luke’s wedding, but Alec and Jace knew that Isabelle was still uneasy. She had felt Simon’s loss more than anyone (except for Clary) and she had been heartbroken over it. Then Simon had appeared at the wedding knowing who all of them were, but Alec knew it wasn’t the same. He didn’t remember the details of his experiences with the shadowhunters, and he had meant something to Isabelle. She was still hurting, maybe not as much as before, maybe not in the same way, but she was hurting all the same.

Alec heard a muffled sound as he reached the training room. He pushed the door open, and he blinked as his gaze swept the room. The training room looked as it always did, polished mahogany walls, a smooth wooden floor, and all kinds of weapons hanging on every square inch of the walls. In the center of the room stood Isabelle, she was barefoot and wearing a white tank top and indigo sweatpants, her silky black hair wasn’t braided down her back like usual; instead it hung down her back, tangled and sweaty. In her left hand she held three throwing knives and the fourth one was clutched in her right hand, aimed at the target on the wall in front of her. She was drenched in sweat and had a look of intense concentration on her face. Alec stepped inside and closed the door behind him with a soft click, at the same time Isabelle let the knife fly and it struck the middle of the target with deadly accuracy. Isabelle turned towards Alec when he was a few feet away from her.

“Hey big brother” she said. “What brings you to the training room this early in the morning?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Alec checked the time on his wristwatch, 8:21 am. Judging by the bags under her eyes, Isabelle had been here a long time.

Isabelle strode away from him and yanked the knife out of the middle of the target. “I was blowing off steam,” she said, turning the knives over in her hands. She looked up at Alec and he felt worry flutter in his chest, she was paler than usual.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Alec asked warily. Nightmares were common amongst the shadowhunters these days. A trip into hell won’t leave you completely unchanged. Generally they were becoming less and less frequent among the teens but sometimes they would appear out of nowhere and terrify them.

Isabelle snorted, “No I barely slept at all.” She said flatly. Alec couldn’t help but notice how she had changed. Isabelle of course was still as confident and self-absorbed as ever, but there was something else now, she seemed more mature and fragile, as if some of the walls she had hidden behind had come down. She was more vulnerable; Alec didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

“Was it about Simon?” he asked. Isabelle stiffened and looked away from him. Oh, he thought that’s it. “Have you heard anything back from Idris?”

“No, nothing” Isabelle said, exasperation clear in her voice. “They haven’t sent anything back yet.” After the wedding Magnus had begun to help Simon prepare for shadowhunter training and possible ascension, meanwhile Jocelyn, Maryse, and Luke had helped to craft a recommendation letter to Shadowhunter Academy in Idris. They had sent the letter a week ago and they hadn’t heard anything back since. “I hate waiting.” She said.

“What, the anticipation doesn’t add to the suspense?” Alec teased. Isabelle rolled her eyes. In truth she didn’t want Simon to go to Shadowhunter Academy. Isabelle and Clary thought it was better to train him here, but more accurately she didn’t want him going that far away from her. 

“I am not Jace, Alec.”

“Right cause I couldn’t tell the difference before.” Alec said grinning. Isabelle rolled her eyes again and strode over to the bench on the opposite side of the room. She dropped the knives on the bench and snatched up a towel and water bottle. She took a swig and looked at him, her dark eyes unreadable. 

“I don’t have bad dreams every night,” she said. “It happens… occasionally.” Isabelle looked indifferent, but Alec knew her well enough to know that she was faking it. 

“What was it about?” He asked as Isabelle sat down beside him.

“I dreamt about Sebastian stabbing me in the back, and horrible demons eating you all, and I… I also saw Simon. I was right in front of him and he asked me who I was.” Isabelle’s lips trembled as she took a deep breath. “I’m not scared of Sebastian he’s dead now, and demons are something I deal with everyday, but seeing Simon like that it… it hurts.” Isabelle was staring pointedly at the wall, refusing to look at Alec so he couldn’t see the turmoil in her eyes.

“You know Simon does remember some things. Maybe not everything but its not nothing.”

“It’s not enough, he doesn’t remember me, and he doesn’t remember us. Not really.” She said, frustration in her voice. Her fists were clenched and white-knuckled in her lap, there was a worrying cracking noise coming from the water bottle clutched in her right hand. “Alec he’s not the same.” She looked up at him and Alec felt a pang in his heart. Her eyes were shining and her jaw was clenched, it was the face she made when she was trying not to cry. 

“Try this, close your eyes and take a deep breath.” So she shut her eyes and did as he asked. When she opened them she saw Alec was looking at her with sympathy and love. There was a pause as Isabelle thought of her next words and Alec waited patiently.

“It’s just hard.” She said finally. Alec swallowed. As much as he’d like to tell her the right thing, he didn’t really know what the right thing was. Alec had run into the opposite problem with his relationship. While Simon didn’t remember enough, Magnus remembered everything and kept it to himself, but Alec had gotten his happy ending while Isabelle was forgotten by the boy she loved. It wasn’t fair to her, and thinking about it enraged Alec. Isabelle rubbed her hands over her face and looked him in the eyes. “Alec what do I do?”

“Well the way I see it, you have two options. First option is that you walk away.” Isabelle looked at him sharply. “You move on and find someone new. You let Simon go, and fall in love with someone else. Let him have the life he wants and find an ending somewhere else.”

“What’s the second option?” She asked him.

“You trust Simon. You trust that he’ll fall in love with you again, and trust that you two can make this work. It’ll be hard, because you’re gonna have to relearn each other all over again but you won’t have psychotic Morgenstern’s breathing down your back this time around.” He said with a small rueful smile. Isabelle looked him in the eye for a moment before resting her head on his shoulder.

“When did you become so relationship savvy? I’m usually the one giving advice to you.” Alec laughed.

“I’m not sure myself.” He said. “But I think you should trust Simon. I saw how you two were around each other, how much he cared. How much you cared.”

Isabelle took a deep breath. “Okay.” She said. “Okay.” She stood up and wiped her forehead with the towel. “Now I need to shower, I feel gross.” She moved toward the door but at that moment Jace and Clary walked into the room. Jace seemed irritated and Clary looked nervous.

“He got accepted.” Clary said. Isabelle froze, her mouth pressed into a thin line.

“What?” Alec said confused.

“Simons letter from the Academy,” Jace said waving the piece of paper around, “it says he got accepted.” Isabelle strode forward and grabbed the letter from Jace’s hand. She pulled the piece of paper from the envelope. She read over the contents of the letter, her hands began to shake.

“He’s going to Idris in a few weeks.” She said quietly, when she looked at Alec she wore a mask of indifference, but Alec knew she wasn’t happy about this. 

“I’m gonna call Simon and tell him.” Clary said; She jogged out of the room in search of her cellphone, Jace close on her heels. Alec watched them go then turned towards Isabelle. She didn’t look apathetic anymore. She looked conflicted and frustrated; one the one hand she wanted to have a life with Simon and that meant Simon had to choose to become a shadowhunter and train at the academy, but it also meant he would go away. He would be away from her for a long time.

“I don’t want him to go.” She said, her voice cracking. Alec got up from his seat and silently enveloped Isabelle into his arms. 

“I know you don’t.” Alec said, “but I think he should do it. If he wants to be one of us he should be somewhere else. It would be weird for him to train here when all of us remember him but he doesn’t remember us. He has to grow away from us Iz.” Isabelle sniffled into his shoulder than pulled away and swiped at her face furiously. 

“Fine.” She said finally. She looked weary and pained. Alec felt for her.

“Maybe you can visit?” He offered. “What about being a guest lecturer?” She raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

“I hate teaching.” She said.

“I know and you’re not particularly good at it either.” He said as Isabelle gave him a withering look. “But it does give you an excuse to visit Simon.” Isabelle gave him a small smile before gathering up her things and strolling out the door. Alec noted that she had a little bit of her old swagger back. He hoped that after this was all over, she would get the happily ever after she deserved.


End file.
